Gladius is in the upper cave, while The Beast of Balaur ends back in Parlita with Ciprian. Clearing the monster, collecting the sword and reporting the body are separate checks. Use a night visit for the upper traversal route; this does not mean every quest objective requires night.
Get through the lower cave
- Head west from Parlita to Mount Balaur Shrine. Use Focus on the tracks leading uphill rather than following unrelated distant quest markers.
- In the cave, inspect the skeletons and crouch through the low opening at the back.
- Defeat the Beast of Balaur, then investigate the remains and body in its chamber. Check that the journal now directs you to ask about the body in Parlita.
A different sword in the lower chamber
ATH's full quest guide reports Verdant Knight's Sword in the stone sarcophagus beside the lower chamber's remains. Check that container separately from Iancu's body, then compare the weapon name with Gladius, which belongs to the upper route below. The reported sarcophagus drop has not been verified firsthand here. Do not use the roundup's weapon level or damage as a guaranteed reward, and do not stop investigating the body just because a sword appeared in your inventory.
Reach the upper passage at night
- Before leaving for the village, look above the arena for the climb route. In vampire form, use the indicated climb interaction and follow the Clawride / Turn the corner prompts into the upper passage.
- Continue to the study area and search the chest for Gladius. Check the named weapon in inventory; the lower chamber's other loot is not this sword.
If traversal is unavailable, check the current form and the ability named by the prompt. The sources use several movement names inconsistently; do not assume owning one movement skill unlocks every climb. Match your control binding to the displayed action rather than copying a controller button from a screenshot.
Check the blood vial separately
ATH places Phial of Brencis's Blood near the study's altar/table. Search the neighbouring surfaces and containers and confirm the full item name; carrying it and consuming it are separate decisions.
DawnwalkerDB states that drinking this phial grants Piercing Shriek and significantly raises Corruption. It does not establish that every save ends at Corruption level 2. Read the item, then inspect the Vampirism node if you choose to consume it; see the named-blood checklist.
Find the person who completes the quest
- Return to Parlita's north-side house and speak to Ciprian about the body from the cave. Searching villagers outdoors is not the same as entering his house.
- Finish that conversation and verify the quest's journal state. If the report option is absent, check whether you inspected the cave body after the fight.
PowerPyx lists 250 XP and 3 time segments for the quest. Do not interpret this as 250 coins or a guaranteed jump to Moonrise: those claims in the separate ATH article are not corroborated. Check the time indicator before the handover.
Before leaving the route
Confirm three things separately: Gladius is in inventory, the blood vial is collected if wanted, and Ciprian's conversation has resolved the journal objective. Weapon level and damage shown in another player's capture are not guaranteed pickup values; inspect your own equip requirement.